Residents that live along Wotan Drive in Encinitas are relieved to hear their rural street won’t be subject to improvements such as a sidewalk installation, street widening and the creation of on-street parking space. Photo by Tony Cagala

Wotan Drive to remain rural

ENCINITAS — A rustic street not far from San Dieguito High School Academy can retain its rural charm, the Encinitas City Council said, as it voted against a proposal to improve the street in connection to the development of a new home.

Residents along Wotan Drive breathed a sigh of relief and applauded the City Council’s unanimous decision to keep the street unchanged, despite a city requirement that would prompt street improvements such as a sidewalk installation, street widening and the provision of an on-street parking space.

The council agreed that the provisions would be inconsistent with the character of the existing street.

“Some decisions at the City Council are difficult; this one was easy,” Councilwoman Catherine Blakespear wrote in her newsletter this week. “Our city’s older sections should be allowed to maintain their rural charm. This is the essence of community character.”

More than 80 residents along Wotan signed a petition requesting the city designate Wotan as a “non-improvement” street much akin to nearby Crest Drive, a much longer street that the city also decided to leave in its rural state.

Several of the residents spoke at the Aug. 24 council meeting and implored the city to leave Wotan Drive unimproved, arguing that homes had ample on-site parking, which eliminated the need for any on-street improvements that would clash with the rest of the neighborhood.

2 comments

John ESeptember 2, 2016 at 5:02 pm

Bravo! Correct decision all the way. What many Encinitas residents do not realize is that most of our streets are supposed to be “upgraded” to 60-foot rights-of-way and sidewalks. For a street such as Wotan, this would be a counterproductive waste of taxpayer money, which could be much better spent on WANTED or NEEDED projects, instead.

Alex NSeptember 3, 2016 at 1:14 pm

Thank you city council for doing the right thing. The one size fits all approach that the city engineering department takes towards street improvements clearly doesn’t work, and it’s refreshing to see the city council take the residents concerns into account. We need to preserve the few rural streets we have left so we don’t turn into Carlsbad or Orange County.